Incompetance or cuts?

[observer]

Seems the apparent surge in passport applications caught the civil service napping, and has developed into another crisis.  But with austerity measures bringing staff cuts, what do they expect?

[inky pete]

I'm seeing a backlog of 450,000 quoted by the unions in the press.

 

Since in a normal week the passport office processes over 100,000 applications and the normal turnaround is 3 to 4 weeks, then you'd expect them to have nearly 400,000 applications in the pipeline at any one time. Add to that it's a busy time of year anyway, and the recovering economy is encouraging more people to travel than in the last few years.

 

In that case, what backlog crisis?

[Eagle]

 If travellers don't replace their passports in good time, the problem isn't with the system.

[Dizzy]

I completely agree Eagle.

There was a business owner having a right whinge on the TV saying that if his passport renewal wasn't back by today he wouldn't be able to fly out and would loose the chance of an important large contract. 

If he can't even keep tabs on when his passport expires and organise that I for one wouldn't want a business contract with him

Our son got his first passport last year which involved form filling and of course an interview at Liverpool passport office with it being his first one. 

Once he'd had his interview his passport arrived within 2 days though.

[observer]

My thoughts, when I first heard it.  But there seems to be serious questions nowadays as to the efficiency or otherwise of the civil service. The latest admission by Gov, is that thousands of English language certificates have been issued to bogus claimants.